How to Decorate a Kitchen Cabinet with Open Shelves 

Last Updated on October 15, 2024

Learn how to decorate a coastal kitchen cabinet with open shelves.

Open shelves in a kitchen are beautiful when done as accents to add visual interest. But our kitchen has SO many open shelves that it’s forced me to get really creative with my styling. It’s also forced me to dust a lot more often, which I’ll get into later!

When we bought our home, the kitchen was already gutted. The previous owner combined the kitchen and dining room to make a mega kitchen with a 10 ft island and a small area at the end for a dining table. It’s perfect for our family because it’s just my husband and our two pups, and we eat most of our meals at the island. 

Styling a Kitchen Cabinet with No Doors

With this big gourmet kitchen came a lot of open shelving. This included an open shelf base cabinet with 3 curved shelves. It’s really cute in theory. However, I find it to be a huge waste of space. If I had been in charge of the remodel, I would have had installed normal shelves and added a cabinet door. 

Rather than completely restructure this space, I decided to embrace it. When it came to decorating these shelves, I really struggled. I couldn’t find any good inspiration on Pinterest, so I decided to style it in a way that was both beautiful AND functional. 

3 Tips for Decorating a Kitchen Cabinet with Open Shelves

1. Choose items you use on a regular basis.

Look for items that fit the space and that you use regularly. I chose a couple different small serving and dipping sauce bowls. We use these bowls all the time for salsa, guac, and nuts. They’re also easy to grab when we have guests pop by.  

2. Use wicker or rattan baskets.

If you’re going to have a kitchen cabinet with open shelves, they need to be decorated nicely. Wicker baskets are my go-to solution for making anything look prettier. They help bring out the coastal vibes I’m going for. Plus, they keep everything organized and tidy!

I found this 3-pack wicker basket set at Amazon for less than $30, and it fit our shelves perfectly. I keep our bowls stored and some cute striped cloth napkins and wood napkin rings. When we have guests over, the bowls and napkins are easy to grab to make our spread put together and guest ready.

3. Add a pop of color.

My coastal kitchen is navy and white, and open shelves are the perfect place to infuse some color to this classic style. I found these hand painted ceramic mugs on Amazon, and I love them. No matter your style, choose items that compliment your decor since they’ll be on display. 

Kitchen Cabinet with Open Shelves Pros:

1. You can easily store your favorite or most used kitchen items on your shelves for easy access. 
2. Your open shelves create visual interest and showcase your decorating style. 

Kitchen Cabinet with Open Shelves Cons:

1. Open shelves collect dust. I constantly find myself dusting the shelves and also making sure the dishes I store there are still clean before I use them. You don’t have to worry about that when your dishes are kept in closed cabinets. 
2. They have to look good all the time. I definitely try to keep all of our kitchen cabinets organized, but when you have open shelves, you’ll want them picture perfect.  

If you love the idea of kitchen cabinets with open shelves or you’ve inherited them like me, I hope this provided some good inspiration for how to style them. Happy decorating!

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